Scroll 1 - The Master Craftsman's Tea Vessel

[Rex]

Fuma

Fuma is for bypassing checkpoints to get to the meeting spot.

[Marullus]

I think the PCs left it as meeting at the shrine (the Hachiman shrine) before proceeding to the merchant Tanaka Jiro's mansion after dark.

We met there at dawn - i thought our plan was to meet near the merchant's house at nightfall rather than criss-cross checkpoints.

Only Kaida NEEDS to go through the checkpoints.
I'd prefer to use the previous successes but you can also reroll for her if you prefer.

[jemmus]

Not sure why Kaida needs to go through the checkpoints, rather than taking the shortcut through the woods like last night...? We'll reuse the rolls and fast forward to nightfall.
The night is overcast, with the glow of the rising waxing-to-crescent moon illuminating a part of the flat gray sky. The nakama have gathered beside the mansion of the oil merchant Tanaka Jiro. They wait concealed in the dark ally formed by the roof of the mansion's garden wall and that of its neighboring mansion. It's an hour and a half* before the Hour of the Tiger and city-wide curfew will start. With the drier weather today, and it being now only five days to the opening of the New Year, foot traffic along the narrow street is heavier than yesterday. But the members of the nakama have noted that the Takeda roving patrols are no more frequent than during the downpour yesterday. They suspect this is not due to laziness by the bushi today, but instead to the iron discipline of the bushi yesterday.

What Fuma and Jinsei have seen (and, we'll assume, described to the nakama) of the mansion compound.[/ooc]

What Kaida has seen (and described to the nakama) of the compound.


I think Fuma, Jinsei, and Kaida did what they've been trained by the clan to do at every opportunity: share information, discuss, and make a plan. And a plan if the plan fails. So Fuma, Jinsei and Kaida have full knowledge of everything on the two maps.

They also know that, if tonight follows the pattern of last night, two ashigaru bushi (one with a han-kyu bow) and a guard dog named "Kuro"** are beyond the walls. As well as the mistress of the house, her teenage daughter and haughty, dai-sho-armed adolescent son, an older maid-cook and a younger maid-laundress-server-scullery maid. And if all goes according to the way observed last evening, a young peasant man of around 18 years old or so will soon come into the gardens to light the candles of the stone lanterns, standing around the mansion's wide grounds. But, parsimoniously, only area of the simulated beach or river front between the mansion and the street.

Perhaps the merchant Tanaka Jiro himself is within. But the nakama arrived close to the mansion early in the day, and didn't see any special activity. The workmen sawing down old trees, digging and chopping through roots, and loading hand carts and hauling them off continued with their hard labors.


And also beyond the walls, deep inside the manse itself.... the ghost of a girl formerly in the current scullery maid-server girl's position. A presence who appeared on the cusp of waking and dreaming, who felt entirely physically present in the room with a character of her own. But was just an idea an image upon opening one's eyes. Who had begged to be taken to Heian-kyo,*** in exchange for her help and gratitude.

*Reminder that an old Nippon hour equals two modern clock hours.
**"Black
***The ancient capital, Kyoto

[Grognardsw]

I vaguely remember an interior map? described by Kaida. While not showing the merchant room per se, it narrowed down the section of house.

Is there a crawl space under the building one could use to reach spot under?

Is the water ways deep enough to crawl along underwater with a bamboo stick straw?

[Rex]

Do we have anything we could use to poison the dog, even just knocking it out would work.

[jemmus]

I vaguely remember an interior map? described by Kaida. While not showing the merchant room per se, it narrowed down the section of house.

Is there a crawl space under the building one could use to reach spot under?

Is the water ways deep enough to crawl along underwater with a bamboo stick straw?

I linked the wrong interior map. Kaida has a better one that I'll post.
The floor around 4 ft above ground. The ninja have practiced crawling under floors.
Kaida guesses that the water is 2-3 ft deep in the middle.

[jemmus]

Kaida's correct map. "bed" means bedroom.

[Marullus]

Also clarifying that:
* Kaida did not see the teacup in any of the public displays (they had dim candles, but she had enchanted nightvision to see clearly)
* Kaida did identify the space at the end of the master bedroom which indicated a secret hidden closet, which we believed was the most likely place to hide the teacup

Kaida can provide a distraction outside if you give her a direction to do so as part of your plan. Unfortunately, at level 1, her spells are all pretty short range otherwise. I'll use them creatively when possible...

[jemmus]

I think GM got Kaida's map right this time.

[Grognardsw]

Jinsei strategized with the others… Perhaps come in at the back, go under the house, and up into surmised location of the secret closet? Do we know the general strength of the floors? If too thick… Do we know if there are windows in the bedroom? Perhaps the open skylight in the roof? Our entry would need to be while the master is not yet in bed, say between 9-11, as I know with our dice roller noise will be made and wake up sleepers, but perhaps not people outside the room.

I like the concept of a distraction, though not sure what. A water spirit in the big stream to get the dog barking and draw guards to the front while we’re in the back? A fire in the study?

Do the streams flow out of the compound under the walls, with enough depth for a ninja? The middle depth of 2-3’ seems enough.

[jemmus]

The nakama were taught that the wooden boards of the floors of the better Japanese houses aren't nailed down. Instead the rest on a grid of beams supported by columns. But they fit tightly together, so pushing one up could require strength. And doing so silently could be a challenge. Kawaishi-sensei recommended patiently testing various boards, trying to find one that isn't bound as tightly on the sides as others. Of course, a loose board with furniture resting on it would be quite difficult to lift indeed.

And tatami wood-framed mats lying over a wood floor make an additional barrier. They also fit closely together, but they're lighter and more easily pushed up. The boards of wood floors under tatami tend to be rougher and less tightly-fitted than those of rooms with polish bare-wood floors. Kaida saw that the merchant's master bedroom had tatami, as did her guess bedroom.


Another method is to cut away the beams supporting the board. Over time (perhaps a day), the board should naturally begin to sink down and loosen. Of course, doing the noisy sawing without being detected would require careful planning.

It's pitch black under the floor, so visual inspection of boards for gaps isn't possible without a light source. If testing for a looser board, using the sense of touch may be useful for a more dexterous shinobi.

Under the house, there are just the floor above and the bare earth below. That makes an attractive shelter for wild beasts such as mice, rats, toads, feral cats, snakes, weasels, spiders and centipedes. (Though weasels generally prefer ceilings over the area under floors). The mice and rats tend to attract the cats, weasels and snake. Kawaishi-sensei said that disturbing these creatures is unlikely to alert the occupants of a house to an agent's presence; they are used to hearing their commotions and voices. But the voiceless coldblooded species pose dangers of their own, of course. And they're very difficult to detect in the blackness between the floor and the earth.

All of the nakama members saw no streams running under the walls and across the street. It seems that the water is a self-contained body. Perhaps fed by a spring or the water of a well.

Example of the grounds of this kind of mansion

[Marullus]

Kaida will remain outside the grounds in reserve; an injured member of the Nakama can reach her and receive aid before they flee. She remains in the guise of a praying Gakusha.

She can invoke the Smoke of Nai near an edge of the compound - she can pick a place five yards within and cause it to billow smoke as if the site of a major fire, causing a distraction and response to that location. The Nakama would need to tell her where this should occur to draw attention away from their ingress.

She can also provide enchantment to member(s) of the Nakama as they begin - to see in the darkness, to detect spirits (though the ghost manifested on its own), or to make one member appear to be several people simultaneously to confuse.

i.e. She can cast Mirror Image on someone, she can make a distraction with a smoke cloud, and she can give nightvision. She also has healing spells. Her Darts spells are offensive but have a range of only 10 yards, so are only helpful in extremis.

Note: Minoru can also heal a wound like a Gakusho (with touch) once per day, if that becomes a tactical necessity inside the compound.

The Nakama also should take stock of its tools brought on this mission. They invested in a number of gimmicks and poisons.

It was 11 months ago that we determined our capabilities for this mission, so we probably all need a refresher. I've linked some of our old threads below.

Someone asked about poisons - we did specifically blow our starting coin to make sure we had some. Ffilz has two doses of Level 5 Narcotic and one of Level 3 Paralytic as well as a blowgun, darts, and Shuriken which it can coat, which is serious stuff. and Grognardsw has two doses of Level 3 Lightning Narcotic as well. (You can coat 10 darts with one dose)

I can't check the sheets, but double-check your own for what you bought with Gimmick points. You guys have climbing poles, collapsible blowguns, firepots, etc.

You're all skilled at Move Silently as well as Ceiling-Walking. Fuma's bow and Jinsei's sword are unlikely to be used unless things go very wrong, but they're good to remember, too. Minoru and Jinsei both use blowguns, which is much more directly useful. Fuma and Kaida both have kyotetsu-shoge to trip/disable foes if it comes to that. Fuma or Jinsei have Lockpicking (or Kaida), which I assume will be needed when you get to the hidden closet.

[jemmus]

Confirming that Marullus has got the facts and Kaida's spells capabilities down. But I don't think Jinsei has any poison. He's got some other things for his blowgun. The character sheets links are here, courtesy of Marullus. (11 months... wow). viewtopic.php?p=657184#p657184

[Marullus]

Maybe it wasn't final? this post is where Jinsei bough the poisons.

[Rex]

Fuma

Fuma does not have any poison.

[Grognardsw]

Yes a refresher will be helpful as we strategize.

The poison darts are line 112 in Jinsei’s excel character sheet. There was a question of poison types behind that, which Marullus pointed out.

two doses of level 3 Lightning Narcotic poison for 120sp,

I’ll do this

Nightvision would be useful, and the smoke distraction.

[jemmus]

This post has the astrology creatures roles of the members of the nakama. viewtopic.php?p=653430#p653430
Reminder that Minoru is the Rooster responsible for aborting a mission.

[Grognardsw]

Would Minoru like to accompany Jinsei and Fuma into the compound? I forget why he didn’t before. A stealth issue? Perhaps he could be in a different area, near an escape route, to cause a diversion and then sneak out?

I’m not sure if Kaida wants to come in to get closer to magic targets?

Jinsei and Fuma go inside the house. Whether that’s together or not I’m not sure. At first I thought together, but maybe that’s not the best approach.

I have several strategic scenarios in mind but want to see what resources inside we can utilize.

[Rex]

I think we need to try and take the dog out first.

[Marullus]

Last time, Minaru went with Kaida due to superior Hensu-jutsu to attempt legit access and... covering the exit or something. This time, Kaida is not trying to infiltrate - she will use smoke to cause the distraction.

...Minaru can go in ninja style with the others, or he knocks on the front door today?